{"id":438561,"date":"2022-04-27T23:51:02","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T20:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/times-square-needs-more-cops-not-casinos-to-lure-visitors\/"},"modified":"2022-04-27T23:51:02","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T20:51:02","slug":"times-square-needs-more-cops-not-casinos-to-lure-visitors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/times-square-needs-more-cops-not-casinos-to-lure-visitors\/","title":{"rendered":"#Times Square needs more cops \u2014 not casinos \u2014to lure visitors"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a382ae37add2\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a382ae37add2\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/times-square-needs-more-cops-not-casinos-to-lure-visitors\/#%E2%80%9CTimes_Square_needs_more_cops_%E2%80%94_not_casinos_%E2%80%94to_lure_visitors%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Times Square needs more cops \u2014 not casinos \u2014to lure visitors&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CTimes_Square_needs_more_cops_%E2%80%94_not_casinos_%E2%80%94to_lure_visitors%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Times Square needs more cops \u2014 not casinos \u2014to lure visitors&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--columnist inline-module--author\">\n<div class=\"inline-module--author__img\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"76\" height=\"69\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/steve-cuozzo.png?w=76&amp;h=69&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-nyp_columnist size-nyp_columnist\" alt=\"Steve Cuozzo\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/steve-cuozzo.png 76w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/steve-cuozzo.png?w=38 38w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 76px) 100vw, 76px\"\/>      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Times Square is roaring back from the pandemic. \u201cGhost town\u201d is a dim memory. Theaters and restaurants are packed. Companies are leasing more floors in office towers even before the buildings fill up again with live human workers.<\/p>\n<p>As daily foot traffic of 350,000 <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roaches pre-pandemic levels, the last thing the \u201cCrossroads of the World\u201d needs is casino gambling. The hocus-pocus is being pushed by the usual suspects \u2014 real estate and hotel companies and labor unions \u2014 and egged on by Gov. Kathy Hochul, who might im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>tely lift the statewide ban on new casinos which is currently in effect until 2023.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a snake-oil gambit that will come up snake eyes for Times Square and the public. What Times Square needs is more cops \u2014 not slots.<\/p>\n<p>If visitors want to gamble, they can wager $23.99 on Bubba Gump\u2019s industrial-grade shrimp \u2014 or on getting photographed with Elmo without getting taken to the cleaners.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s start with the obvious: In a world awash in casinos, including in the US, and the online betting boom, why does any gambler need to go to Times Square? They don\u2019t. The push for casinos there has one goal in mind: to enrich developers, hotel operators and union members, none of whom will likely suffer if the venues flop and taxpayers foot the bills.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/031622timessquarecrowds13CS.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"A general view of crowds of tourists in the Times Square section of New York, NY on March 16, 2022.\" class=\"wp-image-22057478\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/031622timessquarecrowds13CS.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/031622timessquarecrowds13CS.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/031622timessquarecrowds13CS.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Times Square is roaring back from the pandemic. Above, a view of the crowd in March.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Christopher Sadowski<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/091119timesquare8RM.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"An Elmo character gets a smile in Times Square, NYC.\" class=\"wp-image-22057534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/091119timesquare8RM.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/091119timesquare8RM.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/091119timesquare8RM.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>If visitors want to gamble, they can wager on getting photographed with Elmo without getting taken to the cleaners, Cuozzo writes.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Robert Miller<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Casino proponents drool over supposed tax benefits and job creation. But case after case has shown that casinos are almost always financial boondoggles. Too many of them around the US went belly-up, including in Atlantic City where taxpayers are having to bail out several under-performing properties.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>In fact, casinos generate a so-called regressive tax \u2014 meaning they suck funds from people who can least afford it. Forget James Bond and tuxedoed oligarchs duking it out in Monte Carlo. Poor people gamble a lot more than rich people. Just look at the sad-faced grandmas who take the bus to the Atlantic City boardwalk and go home poorer.<\/p>\n<p>Times Square has done so well without slot machines that TikTok and Roku recently moved their local headquarters there. Even a major educational institution, Touro College, has set up a huge \u201ccampus\u201d inside one of the office buildings. Huge new hotels like the Hard Rock and Riu Plaza opened, confident that the pandemic\u2019s waning will justify the investments.<\/p>\n<p>But one thing stands in the way of continued progress: crime, which leapt 20% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2021. High-profile Times Square horrors have included women pushed to their deaths on subway tracks and show-goers caught in crossfires.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/APTOPIX_Revel_Closing.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Revel employees Joe Lucchetti, of Turnersville, N.J., left, and Robert Fitting, of Berlin, N.J. remove letters from a sign at Revel hotel-casino, Monday, Sept. 1, 2014, in Atlantic City, N.J. The hotel closed Monday and the casino will close on Tuesday.\" class=\"wp-image-22058612\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/APTOPIX_Revel_Closing.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/APTOPIX_Revel_Closing.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/APTOPIX_Revel_Closing.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Casinos have gone belly-up. Above, Revel in Atlantic City closed in 2014.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/220411_Yang_NYP___Midtown_15.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Instead of casinos, NYC needs to focus on cleaning up crime in Times Square.\" class=\"wp-image-22057464\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/220411_Yang_NYP___Midtown_15.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/220411_Yang_NYP___Midtown_15.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/220411_Yang_NYP___Midtown_15.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Instead of casinos, NYC needs to focus on cleaning up crime in Times Square.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Stephen Yang<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The peril extends beyond NYPD statistics. Although the area isn\u2019t the open-air drug market and mugging ground of 30 years ago,\u00a0any stroller, office worker or tourist can see and smell (thanks to pot everywhere) the menace.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m a lot more alert than I was just three years ago. The Three-Card-Monte hustlers aren\u2019t back \u2014 at least not yet. But I\u2019m often pestered by kids trying to sell me fake CDs and even shadier characters, like the ones who milled about the Longacre Theatre in a downpour a few nights ago after a performance of \u201cMacbeth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is what we need to tackle now \u2014 not the imaginary benefits of casinos, the worst bet that the city and state would ever make.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/04\/27\/times-square-needs-more-cops-not-casinos-to-lure-visitors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Times Square needs more cops \u2014 not casinos \u2014to lure visitors&#8221; Times Square is roaring back from the pandemic. \u201cGhost town\u201d is a dim memory. Theaters and restaurants are packed. Companies are leasing more floors in office towers even before the buildings fill up again with live human workers. As daily foot traffic of 350,000&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":438562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Times-square-casinos.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[128553,72966,4998,111576,75297,98670,72972,70756],"class_list":["post-438561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-4-27-22","tag-casinos","tag-crime","tag-leases","tag-midtown","tag-nyc-reopens","tag-policing","tag-times-square"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}